Not a lawyer either, nor am I responding directly to / trying to refute @mobiancruxtruder above, just made to think of something while reading that I feel like speaking into the void about. I've noticed people tend to give Gio wayyy more leniency than Hussie on the whole legal strategy side of things.

One of the immediate defenses I saw when this broke out was that, if Gio's claims were wrong, he wouldn't make them because that'd undermine his entire article. Why would he make easily falsifiable claims if he's trying to share the truth? Hussie, on the other hand, could totally initiate spurious and unjustified legal maneuvers. He's a flawed person who could totally act irrationally.
(those examples were exaggerated obviously but even in more moderate takes there's a persistent reluctance to consider anything in gio's article an outright lie. my own takes included in that, im still hesitant to go that far even though i am of the opinion that he's full of shit)

But like... Gio is also a person, who can also act irrationally. This man is not an infallible journalist, even if he tries to portray himself that way; even those who fully believe his claims should be able to admit that he's still just A Guy. It is an entirely possible outcome of this situation that Gio, upset and defensive over allegedly spurious libel lawsuit threats, just responded by cooking up the most open-and-shut libel case this side of the Mississippi. If no one ever did shit like that, we wouldn't have laws against libel! Everyone would just make verifiable and justified claims and we'd live in a world of peace and harmony and unclogged legal systems.

So again, not responding to anyone in particular at the moment. Just saying that, while I agree that Hussie might've chased a losing lawsuit because she can act irrationally or for ulterior motives, the opposite statement that Gio might've made brazenly defamatory accusations because he can act irrationally or for ulterior motives is something I think we oughta acknowledge more.

100% right about the US legal system though lmao even if Hussie has a great case I doubt it's gonna go anywhere legally any time soon. Especially since they definitely qualify as a public figure.